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ISSUE FOUR | 2020 TheTHE UNIVERSITY Murmur OF MISSISSIPPI MEDICAL CENTER Students vs COVID EDITOR IN CHIEF John F. G. Bobo, M4 STAFF Ford Franklin, M4 Mary Moses Hitt, M4 THE MURMUR Rosemary Moak, M4 THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MEDICAL CENTER DesIGN AND PHOTOGRAPHY John F. G. Bobo, M4 Now I can... be a family man “Don’t let me die. I’ve got a baby on the way.” As rescuers rushed Frank Elam of Eupora to the hospital following a car crash, the paralyzed 22-year-old was determined not to miss his firstborn’s birth. Ditto for the dad duties he now accomplishes from the seat of his custom wheelchair. Elam and his wife, Heavenly, relied on the spinal cord injury team at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson to teach them how to adapt to their new reality. And Heavenly says MRC’s expertise helped make the most of Elam’s hard work. “They took us in like we were kids,” she said. “People at MRC care about patients and what they are going through.” “Now that I’m in a wheelchair, I’m going to be best man in a wheelchair I can be,” Elam said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about making the best life for our son.” Nationally recognized for expertise in rehabilitation medicine after a stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury or amputation. For more information, visit methodistonline.org or call 601-364-3434 or toll-free 1-800-223-6672, ext. 3434. elammurmur.indd 1 5/21/19 10:56 AM Around the U Everything that’s going on at UMMC Mikayla Johnson. left, M1, and Danielle Block, M3, both of whom are enrolled in the Disaster Man- agement Course for students, help assemble COVID-19 test kits May 1 at the Medical Center. phtotos courtesy of UMMC 4 ISSUE FOUR 2019-2020 | The Murmur The Murmur | ISSUE FOUR 2019-2020 5 Around the U Even in the smallest of ways, find how you can these stressors and managing your new baseline of take control of your personal environment and anxiety. To address chronic stressors you have to circumstances. If we focus globally on what is go- have chronic coping behaviors. And that includes ing on, then we feel overwhelmed by how things healthy eating habits, regular physical activity, are out of control and unpredictable. This distress and good sleep hygiene, as well as a host of other then begins to leak into our personal environment, coping behaviors, including socialization, spiritual and now all of a sudden our global environment health, emotional expression, leisure activities, etc. and our personal environment are out of control. None of these coping behaviors are going to “fix” Of those two environments, you have the most the stressors in your life but they will equip and control over what is in front of you. Therefore, prepare you to persevere and effectively manage the best thing you can do is regroup, focus on your the stress in your life. personal environment, and find ways to take back How do we find a sense of purpose control of your time, your activities, and your self- care. Even in the smallest of ways. when we’re sheltering-in-place at home? Life still happens even during this I speak to my patients frequently about finding Danny Burgess, Ph.D period where everything around us opportunities to evolve. I am not a big fan of defin- CO-DIRECTOR OF STUDENT COUNSELING AND WELLNESS CENTER seems to have been paused. How can ing experiences in life as good vs bad or positive vs negative. I think if we get caught up in labeling BY SHANU MOORTHY, MEDICINE, 4TH YEAR we best handle the normal stressors experiences then we try to only seek out good/ What advice do you have for students struggling of life that have only been exacerbated positive experiences and do everything we can to during this time? avoid bad/negative experiences. When we are un- to emotionally cope with such an unprecedented successful with this pursuit then we feel frustrated, experience, when things seem out of control? I am a huge proponent of self-care. And you have hopeless, and disappointed because we quickly find to start with the biological basics—nutrition, physi- out life just does not work that way. Yes, experi- Control—that is the key word. We humans love to have things under cal activity, and sleep. We all have a new, higher ences can be unpleasant and distressing but that control, predictable, and certain. Anxiety, frustration, helplessness, baseline of anxiety/stress due to the disruption does not mean they are not of value and provide fear, and depression creep in when we feel things are out of control, caused by the pandemic. So yes, normal stressors us with opportunities to evolve and develop. It is unpredictable, and uncertain. And there’s nothing like a pandemic to of life have been exacerbated and things are much less about the experience and more about what you make us all feel things are out of control, especially when it impacts our more difficult to do. But that is not where the focus gain from it. This pandemic is no different. Instead day-to-day functioning, academics, career, relationships, and valued needs to be because changing that is out of your of focusing on everything that this pandemic has activities. So the first thing you can do is simply take back control. control. What is in your control is your response to taken away from you, how can you evolve into a 7 better person because of it? What is something you probably did last Spring Break). During this and sedentary lifestyle. Be creative in how you can overcome these disruptions then this could lead to new about yourself that you can discover during pandemic time when our schedules, routines, maintain your relationships. Try out a new dinner problems like anxiety or depression. We all have bad this time that no other experience would have and structures have all been disrupted, it is now recipe with a friend while you cook together virtu- days and are not at our best, but if you begin to see uncovered? The goal is to see the pandemic as a more important than ever to maintain your usual ally. Start a virtual book club. Exercise with a friend a trend of this then reach out to someone. challenge, not a threat. And when you can make activities of daily living. Again, this speaks back or family member on FaceTime. Whatever it takes, it your purpose to seek out how you can evolve to feeling in control of your personal environment. stay connected, whether it is a quick text or a virtual Weddings, graduations, and trips from this challenging experience, then you have There’s nothing that feels more productive then movie night with friends. Feeling supported and not have rescheduled, cancelled, or the ability to successfully face any and all experi- getting a load of laundry done, cooking a meal, or alone are crucial in maintaining good physical and ences in your life moving forward. Make it your going for a run. When you can feel that each and emotional health. reorganized. How can we maintain purpose to evolve. every day by maintaining a schedule and routine perspective when important events that is normal for you, then you can feel in control How do we know if it’s time to and milestones are threatened? Why is it important to carry out activ- and productive during a time that feels chaotic talk to someone, like a therapist ities of daily living (sleeping, cooking, and uncertain. at the Student Counseling and This is a tough one. For many of you, you lost that cleaning, exercising, etc.) when there’s Where do relationships fit in all of Wellness Center or the COVID-19 special day of celebrating your academic accom- a pandemic going on? this? What do we do to stay connected Stress and Coping Hotline? plishments or you had to modify or postpone your while upholding social distancing? first day of married life. Funerals, reunions, trips, all have been cancelled, postponed, or modified. \You have heard the phrase many, many times Honestly, I think everyone would benefit from You have to acknowledge it for what it is and just over—“In these (insert your favorite word: unprec- checking in with a therapist, even if it is just to see Technology really has provided us with a means say, “This sucks.” You need to grieve the loss of edented, unusual, challenging, unique) times…”. if you are doing everything you can to help you to maintain our relationships during this time. that day or event and hopefully find some way to So why is it important to carry out your usual through this time. I have had many students with Could you imagine going through something like celebrate the event in whatever way possible. But activities of daily living? Because there is nothing no significant distress or issues who have made ap- this in the 1990s (probably when most of you also take a step back and gain a broader perspective better than a healthy dose of normalcy and routine. pointments with me just to see if they are engaging weren’t even born) when you could not be on your on really what is important. These events are not Though we love spontaneity and surprises at times, in the best coping behaviors to manage the stress in landline phone at the same time as your landline the accomplishment.

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